Bieber announces retirement on Twitter

LONDON — Pop star Justin Bieber took to Twitter yesterday to announce that he is retiring, sending social media into a spin and his fans into mourning and disbelief on Christmas day.

Mr Bieber, whose movie, Believe, is due to be released today, tweeted yesterday: “My beloved beliebers I’m officially retiring” (sic).

“The media talks a lot about me. They make a up a lot of lies and want me to fail but I’m never leaving you, being a belieber is a lifestyle (sic).”

Despite this contradiction, the “retirement” post has not been removed.

Instead, he wrote this message: “Be kind loving to each other, forgive each other as god forgave us through Christ Merry Christmas IM HERE FOREVER”. This was followed by: “I’m not leaving u.” He then urged his followers to see his Believe film, saying it shows the “real” Bieber.

So far, there has been no official word from his management team about what his “retirement” means, but it was enough to cause alarm among his 47 million Twitter followers.

Just last week, Mr Bieber had told a Los Angeles radio station he planned to quit. “After the new album, I’m actually retiring, man. I’m retiring,” he told Power 106 on Dec 17.

However, he then suggested that was not, in fact, the case. “I want to grow as an artiste and I’m taking a step out. I want my music to mature,” he added.

It has been a troubled year for the teen star.

In April, he caused outrage after writing in the guestbook at the Anne Frank Museum in Amsterdam: “Hopefully she would have been a Belieber”. The museum is dedicated to preserving the memory of a young holocaust victim who chronicled her ordeal hiding from the Nazis during World War II in The Diary Of A Young Girl.

In July, his tour bus was raided for drugs at the border between the United States and Canada. He was also caught urinating in a bucket at a New York City restaurant and spraying cleaning liquid on a photograph of former US President Bill Clinton.

Last month, Mr Bieber was forced to issue an apology when he was pictured kicking the national flag of Argentina off the stage during a performance in Buenos Aires. That same month, he also said he had met Mexico President Enrique Pena Nieto, a claim the country’s leader denied.

The singer then said on Twitter: “Correction. I met the presidente’s family and all their friends in the private meet and greet with all their security. They were very nice (sic).”

He has also infuriated fans from Dubai to Melbourne by beginning his shows 90 minutes late. AGENCIES